lock¹ /lok/

1. A fastening device, esp one in which a bolt is moved by mechanism, with or without a key
2. An immobilizing device that can be operated on machinery, etc
3. An enclosure on a canal in which water can be adjusted to allow boats to be raised or lowered
4. The part of a firearm by which it is discharged
5. A grapple in wrestling or a disabling hold generally
6. (also lock forward) one of the two players in the second row of the scrum (rugby)
7. A state of being jammed or immovable
8. The state of being firmly interlocked or engaged
9. (usu airˈlock) a bubble blocking the flow of fluid through a pipe, etc
10. A number of things mutually engaged
11. A lockful
12. A lock-keeper
13. Any narrow, confined place
14. A lock-hospital
15. Locking up
16. The full extent of the turning arc of the front wheels of a motor vehicle
17. A certainty (N American informal)

1. To fasten (a door, chest, etc) with a lock
2. To fasten so as to impede motion
3. To engage
4. To jam
5. To shut up, secure
6. To close fast
7. To hold closely, eg in an embrace
8. To construct locks on (a canal)
9. To take (a boat) through a lock

1. To become fixed, to jam
2. To unite or engage firmly
3. To become or have the means of becoming locked

lockˈable adjective

lockˈage noun

1. The locks of a canal
2. The difference in the levels of locks
3. Materials used for locks
4. Water lost by use of a lock
5. Tolls paid for passing through locks

lockˈfast adjective

Firmly fastened by locks

lockˈful noun

Enough to fill a lock

lockˈless adjective

lockˈaway noun (finance)

A long-term security (also adjective)

lockˈ-chain noun

A chain for fastening the wheels of a vehicle by tying the rims to some part which does not rotate

lockˈdown noun

1. An act of confining prisoners to their cells, esp as a means of restoring order
2. Any general cessation of activity, esp in response to a crisis

locked in adjective

1. Securely fixed, not subject to change (informal)
2. Concentrating and performing at one's best (slang)

locked-in syndrome noun (medicine)

A neurological condition, resulting from brainstem damage, in which the subject is conscious and aware but unable to move or communicate, other than sometimes through blinking

lock gate noun

A gate for opening or closing a lock in a canal, river, or dock-entrance

lockˈ-hosˈpital noun (archaic)

A hospital for venereal diseases (from one in Southwark, orig a lazar-house, probably since specially isolated)

lockˈhouse noun

A lock-keeper's house

lockˈ-in noun (informal)

A period of drinking in a pub after it has officially closed for the night

lockˈjaw noun

1. Tetanus
2. Loosely, trismus

lockˈ-keeper noun

The attendant at a lock

lockˈman noun

1. A lock-keeper
2. A hangman (Scot; obsolete)
3. An undersheriff, or a coroner's summoner (Isle of Man)

lockˈnut or lockˈing-nut noun

1. A nut screwed on top of another one to prevent it loosening
2. A nut designed to lock itself when screwed tight

lockˈout noun

The act of locking out, esp used of the locking out of employees by the employer during an industrial dispute

lockˈpick noun

A picklock

locksˈman noun

1. A turnkey
2. A lock-keeper

lockˈsmith noun

A person who makes and mends locks

lockˈstep noun

A method of marching in tight formation, with minimum space between one marcher and the one behind (in lockstep operating in close conformity)

lockˈstitch noun

A sewing-machine stitch formed by the locking of two threads together

lockˈ-up noun

1. A cell for locking up prisoners
2. A lockable shelter for a motor vehicle
3. A small shop
4. A locking up
5. A long-term investment (finance)

adjective

Capable of being locked up

lock away

To hide, usu by locking up out of sight

lock horns

To engage in combat, physical or otherwise

lock in

To confine by locking doors

lock on (to)

Of a radar beam, to track (an object) automatically

lock out

1. To keep out by locking doors
2. To exclude employees from a factory, etc
3. To prevent other users from accessing (a file) while one user is reading or updating it (computing)

lock, stock and barrel

1. The whole
2. Altogether, entirely

lock up

1. To confine
2. To lock securely
3. To lock whatever is to be locked
4. To make inaccessible or unavailable (figurative)
5. To invest (capital) so that it cannot be readily realized

under lock and key

1. Locked up
2. Imprisoned

lock² /lok/

1. A piece, strand, tuft or ringlet of hair
2. A wisp of wool or cotton
3. A small quantity, as of hay
4. A quantity of meal, the perquisite of a mill-servant (Scots law; obsolete)
5. A lovelock (Shakespeare)
6. (in pl) hair
7. (in pl) dreadlocks

• bourtrees
• bouse
• boused
• bouses
• stichoi
• stichologies
• stichology
• stichometric
• stichometrical
• stichometrically
• stichometries
• stichometry
• stichomythia
• stichomythias
• stichomythic
• stichos
• -stichous
• stichs
• stick
• stickabilities
• stickability
• stick around
• stick at
• stick at nothing
• stick by